0:00:02 > 0:00:04This programme contains very strong language.
0:00:04 > 0:00:05Your grandparents are at church now?
0:00:05 > 0:00:07- Mm-hm.- So they don't know we're here?- No! No.
0:00:07 > 0:00:10- And they don't know you're using? - No.- That's weird, isn't it?
0:00:10 > 0:00:13It's super weird. Nobody knows.
0:00:13 > 0:00:14How did you get started?
0:00:14 > 0:00:18Well, I was in a car accident and I broke my neck,
0:00:18 > 0:00:22so I kept having all this pain and I was going to doctors and they just kept handing me pain pills.
0:00:22 > 0:00:24Literally throwing them down my throat.
0:00:24 > 0:00:27How did that lead to you being addicted to heroin?
0:00:27 > 0:00:31I told the doctor, I said, "Look, I'm addicted to these,
0:00:31 > 0:00:35"100% no doubt about it, I'm sick, I'm puking, I can't do anything,
0:00:35 > 0:00:38"you've got to help me." The doctor cut me off cold turkey.
0:00:39 > 0:00:42He says, "I don't know what to tell you,
0:00:42 > 0:00:43"have a great day."
0:00:43 > 0:00:45Shut the door and walked out.
0:00:47 > 0:00:52In Huntington, West Virginia, I was spending time with heroin users.
0:00:52 > 0:00:54I've heard you can OD on that.
0:00:54 > 0:00:58Oh, yeah, yeah, if I did that there right there by myself, dude,
0:00:58 > 0:00:59I'd drop dead.
0:01:00 > 0:01:03The city has been swept up in the most deadly drug epidemic
0:01:03 > 0:01:05in US history.
0:01:06 > 0:01:11And for several weeks, I've been trying to get to grips with why.
0:01:11 > 0:01:13You responded to Brenda's call?
0:01:13 > 0:01:17- Yeah, we did.- And you found Brenda what, ODed?
0:01:17 > 0:01:20- Yeah.- I just want to say thank you,
0:01:20 > 0:01:24and not all of us want to be like this.
0:01:26 > 0:01:30Honestly at this point, as far as this addiction has gone and to
0:01:30 > 0:01:31lying to my family about having
0:01:31 > 0:01:33a job and going to meetings
0:01:33 > 0:01:35- and doing this and that, I'm- BLEEP- exhausted.
0:01:37 > 0:01:40- I'm tired. I'm really- BLEEP- tired.
0:01:43 > 0:01:44Really tired.
0:02:01 > 0:02:03Huntington lies at the intersection
0:02:03 > 0:02:05of West Virginia, Ohio and Kentucky...
0:02:07 > 0:02:09..an area known as Tri-state.
0:02:11 > 0:02:14Once home to factories and steel mills,
0:02:14 > 0:02:16it is now a hub for heroin use.
0:02:21 > 0:02:25Hi, there. Through the city's needle exchange, I'd made contact with
0:02:25 > 0:02:2725-year-old Curtilia...
0:02:27 > 0:02:29and her boyfriend Alvin.
0:02:29 > 0:02:31You OK, Curtilia?
0:02:31 > 0:02:33Yeah, I'm fine.
0:02:33 > 0:02:35I just need to go to the rest room real quick.
0:02:38 > 0:02:42I don't want to sound paranoid - but is she shooting up in there?
0:02:42 > 0:02:45No, I don't think she's shooting up.
0:02:45 > 0:02:47Are you OK?
0:02:47 > 0:02:49Yeah, I'm fine. Did you ask if I was shooting?
0:02:49 > 0:02:51She's shooting.
0:02:51 > 0:02:53Are you doing it now?
0:02:53 > 0:02:55Yeah. Yeah, it's not...
0:02:55 > 0:02:58It's not, it's just something, it's like a rinse,
0:02:58 > 0:03:00I've already done my morning shot.
0:03:00 > 0:03:03It's something that kind of has a little bit of something in it
0:03:03 > 0:03:05that will kind of relax me.
0:03:08 > 0:03:10Do you use as well, Alvin?
0:03:10 > 0:03:12- No, I don't use.- Not at all?
0:03:12 > 0:03:16That's why it's so difficult to be with somebody who has an addiction,
0:03:16 > 0:03:20cos you always, you love them, but it's like evil,
0:03:20 > 0:03:23you know what I'm saying? You love them, but you wish they'd get off,
0:03:23 > 0:03:28- but it's hard.- You would rather Curtilia was not using.
0:03:28 > 0:03:31- Yes, absolutely.- How many times do you shoot up a day?
0:03:31 > 0:03:35I mean, it's at least six, seven.
0:03:35 > 0:03:38So in a day, how much would you typically say,
0:03:38 > 0:03:41what money value would you be using?
0:03:41 > 0:03:44I could give at least 150-200.
0:03:44 > 0:03:47Does that sound right to you, Curtilia?
0:03:47 > 0:03:50Oh, yeah, actually that's probably less.
0:03:50 > 0:03:53- It's actually the minimum. - That's on the low end.- Yes.
0:03:53 > 0:03:56Are you able to keep down a job, Curtilia?
0:03:56 > 0:04:00No. No, I've never been able to keep a job.
0:04:00 > 0:04:01You've never had a job?
0:04:01 > 0:04:04- I've had jobs, yeah. - What kind of work have you done?
0:04:04 > 0:04:07Jobs that take taxes has been just fast-food...
0:04:08 > 0:04:10- ..I...stripped.- Mm-hm.
0:04:10 > 0:04:12I have tricked.
0:04:12 > 0:04:14- Mm-hm.- I have...
0:04:16 > 0:04:18- ..robbed.- Tricked is prostituted.
0:04:18 > 0:04:20- Yes.- Do you still do that?
0:04:20 > 0:04:23I don't, not since I've been with Al.
0:04:23 > 0:04:24Because he's providing?
0:04:24 > 0:04:26Since we've been around each other
0:04:26 > 0:04:29I've been able to find better quality
0:04:29 > 0:04:31of the drug, too,
0:04:31 > 0:04:35where I can not use as much.
0:04:35 > 0:04:39So did I understand Curtilia to mean that you've been able to hook her up
0:04:39 > 0:04:41with better quality product?
0:04:41 > 0:04:47Yeah, I would rather go out to find her something that's going to at least be what she wants,
0:04:47 > 0:04:50than something somebody put together that's going to kill her.
0:04:50 > 0:04:52Would you consider yourself a dealer?
0:04:52 > 0:04:56Consider? No, I consider myself, because of her situation,
0:04:56 > 0:04:59I know people and I'd be like OK, they got something good that you want.
0:04:59 > 0:05:01I know she won't get it, you know what I'm saying?
0:05:01 > 0:05:03How old were you when you first
0:05:03 > 0:05:07got involved in a serious way with opiates?
0:05:07 > 0:05:09A serious way?
0:05:09 > 0:05:11When I was about 17.
0:05:11 > 0:05:15Was there anything going on in your life? I mean, were you just partying in a normal way,
0:05:15 > 0:05:17or was there something else going on?
0:05:17 > 0:05:21Well, growing up... My family does a lot of manual labour work.
0:05:21 > 0:05:26A lot of people would take medicine here and there that would kind of keep them, keep them...
0:05:27 > 0:05:31- Functioning.- Yeah. I seen them just being strong and...
0:05:31 > 0:05:33You were trying, you saw guys around...
0:05:34 > 0:05:37..taking it, you thought what's that all about, you tried it
0:05:37 > 0:05:39and you felt...
0:05:39 > 0:05:41Er...
0:05:42 > 0:05:45Oh, gosh, I can't...! I don't know why I'm...
0:05:45 > 0:05:49Don't worry. Maybe it's hard to express like, the...
0:05:49 > 0:05:52Are the questions making you nervous?
0:05:52 > 0:05:55No, no.
0:05:55 > 0:05:58If he would walk in here and I can talk to you guys for a second,
0:05:58 > 0:06:00then you can just...
0:06:00 > 0:06:01do what you do.
0:06:01 > 0:06:04OK, the man will help you, Jesus.
0:06:04 > 0:06:05Oh...
0:07:02 > 0:07:05Hello, there.
0:07:06 > 0:07:09I'm starting to think now I want to get into town.
0:07:10 > 0:07:13- What you talking about, what do you want to do?- Yeah.
0:07:24 > 0:07:28A little later, I was invited along on an outing to a trap house,
0:07:28 > 0:07:29where Alvin would be attempting to
0:07:29 > 0:07:32rendezvous with one of his connections.
0:07:33 > 0:07:36We were being chauffeured by a neighbour called Petty Betty.
0:07:40 > 0:07:42It was all a little odd.
0:07:42 > 0:07:44I wasn't quite sure what we were getting into.
0:07:51 > 0:07:53Wow.
0:07:53 > 0:07:56It looks...like it needs an extreme makeover.
0:07:58 > 0:08:01Petty Betty, what should I call you, Petty, or Betty, or something else?
0:08:01 > 0:08:03SHE LAUGHS
0:08:03 > 0:08:05My name is actually Jessica.
0:08:05 > 0:08:08Everyone knows me as Petty Betty.
0:08:08 > 0:08:12- Petty.- Yeah.- Do you, um... do you have a job, Petty?
0:08:12 > 0:08:14- No.- You're not in work at the moment?
0:08:14 > 0:08:17- No.- Do you use?
0:08:17 > 0:08:18- Yes.- Do you?
0:08:18 > 0:08:20For how long?
0:08:20 > 0:08:23I'll be 26 in three months and I've used since I was 12.
0:08:23 > 0:08:25Since you were 12?
0:08:25 > 0:08:27What did you start using when you were 12?
0:08:27 > 0:08:28Lortabs.
0:08:28 > 0:08:29- Huh?- Pain pills, painkillers.
0:08:29 > 0:08:31Where did you get them from?
0:08:31 > 0:08:36Um... Medicine cabinets from my grandparents, from my mom,
0:08:36 > 0:08:37anywhere I could find them, really.
0:08:37 > 0:08:38Why?
0:08:40 > 0:08:42Everybody else was doing it.
0:08:44 > 0:08:48This is like, I was raised as a spoiled little brat, honestly,
0:08:48 > 0:08:52had anything and everything I ever wanted, but...
0:08:52 > 0:08:56I don't know, I guess I just wanted to fit in with everybody.
0:08:56 > 0:08:58And then it becomes, you know,
0:08:58 > 0:09:04the sicknesses and the pains mean you've got to find something to get rid of it, basically and...
0:09:05 > 0:09:08..they took all the pills away from everybody here,
0:09:08 > 0:09:10so then you've got to find something else to cope with.
0:09:11 > 0:09:12So...
0:09:16 > 0:09:19It's a bad habit, it really is.
0:09:20 > 0:09:22PHONE RINGS
0:09:22 > 0:09:24I think that's the call, isn't it?
0:09:24 > 0:09:26- I hope.- How do you know?
0:09:26 > 0:09:28- Can I have that?- Let me see.
0:09:28 > 0:09:29He wants to see!
0:09:29 > 0:09:31INDISTINCT
0:09:31 > 0:09:33That is it?
0:09:33 > 0:09:34That's it.
0:09:34 > 0:09:37That is it. It's so nothing.
0:09:38 > 0:09:39- How much was that?- That...
0:09:39 > 0:09:4140.
0:09:41 > 0:09:4340?
0:09:43 > 0:09:44Is that a, um?
0:09:44 > 0:09:47I would have had to pay probably 180 for it.
0:09:47 > 0:09:50- Is that a gram?- That ain't a gram.
0:09:50 > 0:09:52- Is it less?- Less.
0:09:52 > 0:09:55What would happen if I snorted that right now?
0:09:55 > 0:09:57I guess you'd be on her level!
0:09:58 > 0:10:02Probably, I don't know, that's what I'm about to find out.
0:10:04 > 0:10:06This has a smell to it, too. Usually...
0:10:06 > 0:10:11that either means they've re-cut it, or it's a decent,
0:10:11 > 0:10:12decent quality.
0:10:14 > 0:10:17It's got, I don't know if you want to smell it,
0:10:17 > 0:10:18it's got like a vinegary...
0:10:19 > 0:10:21- This is weird. OK...- I know!
0:10:28 > 0:10:31- Vinegary, there's no other word for it.- I know.
0:10:31 > 0:10:32Have you ever smelt that before?
0:10:32 > 0:10:36I've smelled it before and then I've woke up with an overdose.
0:10:36 > 0:10:38Uh-oh.
0:10:39 > 0:10:42I feel weird watching you do something so dangerous.
0:10:45 > 0:10:48And also I feel like you're going to slightly disappear after you've taken it.
0:10:48 > 0:10:51You're going to become dopey and sleepy.
0:10:52 > 0:10:55There's nothing I could say that would persuade you not to do that?
0:11:01 > 0:11:04I'm going to add a lighter to that.
0:11:12 > 0:11:13INDISTINCT
0:11:13 > 0:11:15How will I know if you're in trouble?
0:11:18 > 0:11:20I'll lose consciousness, pretty much.
0:11:20 > 0:11:22I'll even start to probably change colour.
0:11:43 > 0:11:45That's what I call a creeper.
0:11:45 > 0:11:48It's a slow, slow...
0:11:50 > 0:11:51A slow rush.
0:11:53 > 0:11:55It's not bad. I've had better.
0:11:56 > 0:11:58It's not bad.
0:11:58 > 0:12:00How long are you good for now, do you think?
0:12:00 > 0:12:03Probably with this, maybe a couple of hours.
0:12:29 > 0:12:31Is he still physical with you?
0:12:31 > 0:12:32Mm-hm.
0:12:36 > 0:12:38Where do you see the relationship going?
0:12:39 > 0:12:43Well, down the drain, but...
0:12:43 > 0:12:46right now, it's going to be like this until...
0:12:48 > 0:12:49Until I...
0:12:49 > 0:12:52can try to overpower...
0:12:53 > 0:12:54..my addiction.
0:12:56 > 0:12:58He's the only way right now to get...
0:12:59 > 0:13:01..what I want.
0:13:07 > 0:13:10SIREN WAILS
0:13:17 > 0:13:19It's been estimated that in Huntington,
0:13:19 > 0:13:21as many as one out of four adults
0:13:21 > 0:13:24is addicted to heroin or some other form of opiate.
0:13:25 > 0:13:30The rate of fatal overdose is 13 times the national average.
0:13:32 > 0:13:36Bearing the brunt of the problem are the city's emergency services,
0:13:36 > 0:13:38and in particular, the Fire Department.
0:13:43 > 0:13:48Increasingly, their job revolves around reviving overdosing users.
0:13:50 > 0:13:51Hey, honey.
0:13:53 > 0:13:54All right?
0:13:54 > 0:13:56He's breathing.
0:13:56 > 0:14:01But not... You see actually, his colour's coming back a little bit.
0:14:01 > 0:14:04We've popped him one, shall we go ahead and give him another Narcan?
0:14:04 > 0:14:07- Thank you.- What does the Narcan do, Jan?
0:14:07 > 0:14:12It reverses the effects of the opiate that they took, the heroin.
0:14:13 > 0:14:15Does it stop them from overdosing?
0:14:15 > 0:14:17Yeah.
0:14:17 > 0:14:19Hey, buddy.
0:14:20 > 0:14:22What happened?
0:14:26 > 0:14:27Hey, honey, it's cold out here.
0:14:27 > 0:14:30I'm going to pull your shirt down for you, OK?
0:14:32 > 0:14:33Oh...
0:14:34 > 0:14:36Jan Raider is the city's fire chief.
0:14:37 > 0:14:39Could he have died just then?
0:14:39 > 0:14:41Oh, yeah, did you see his face when we showed up?
0:14:41 > 0:14:43Very, very pale. Almost blue.
0:14:43 > 0:14:45Right. Now, he was breathing,
0:14:45 > 0:14:47he was breathing, but not sufficiently.
0:14:47 > 0:14:52The first dose of Narcan increased his breathing rate just a little
0:14:52 > 0:14:57bit, but he probably had heroin that was laced with Fentanyl,
0:14:57 > 0:15:00and so it took a full two milligrams
0:15:00 > 0:15:04more intravenously to get him to wake up.
0:15:04 > 0:15:09- What is Fentanyl?- Fentanyl is a synthetic opiate,
0:15:09 > 0:15:12typically made in China and shipped to Mexico,
0:15:12 > 0:15:15and that's where it's cut with the heroin, before it's sent here.
0:15:17 > 0:15:21- And it's strong.- It's 100 times stronger than heroin.
0:15:22 > 0:15:24Now he's in withdrawals.
0:15:24 > 0:15:26Is he vomiting?
0:15:26 > 0:15:27Yeah, he is.
0:15:30 > 0:15:32That's what the Narcan has done,
0:15:32 > 0:15:34it's knocked the opiates off the receptors in his brain
0:15:34 > 0:15:36and now he's dope sick.
0:15:37 > 0:15:40So tell me about Huntington.
0:15:40 > 0:15:43Huntington, West Virginia, is a town of 49,000 people.
0:15:43 > 0:15:48Last year we had over 1,100 overdoses
0:15:48 > 0:15:51and probably 80% of the people
0:15:51 > 0:15:55that we deal with started out with a legal prescription to either
0:15:55 > 0:15:58Lortab or Percocet,
0:15:58 > 0:16:00OxyContin.
0:16:00 > 0:16:04- From a doctor.- From a physician, for legitimate pain.
0:16:04 > 0:16:08It's sad. Once they can't get the prescription, they turn to heroin,
0:16:08 > 0:16:10because it's cheaper, more readily available.
0:16:17 > 0:16:18Addiction in Huntington
0:16:18 > 0:16:21is in some ways a legacy of its industrial past.
0:16:23 > 0:16:26Doctors, influenced by pharmaceutical companies,
0:16:26 > 0:16:29prescribed pain pills for workplace injuries.
0:16:31 > 0:16:33From early 2011,
0:16:33 > 0:16:35when authorities realised the drugs
0:16:35 > 0:16:37were being abused in vast quantities,
0:16:37 > 0:16:42they began cracking down, passing new laws against over-prescription.
0:16:44 > 0:16:46Combined with disappearing employment,
0:16:46 > 0:16:50the unintended result was a massive shift to heroin use.
0:16:56 > 0:16:59Alongside the emergency services,
0:16:59 > 0:17:02a variety of community and religious volunteers are attempting to address
0:17:02 > 0:17:04the problem.
0:17:04 > 0:17:06It's a battle every day, no matter where you're at.
0:17:06 > 0:17:09I struggle as much as you do everyday.
0:17:09 > 0:17:11No matter what, I've still got to wake up, turn it over to God, and do
0:17:11 > 0:17:14the right thing every morning, no matter where I live.
0:17:14 > 0:17:16Whether I live down here or I live in a house.
0:17:16 > 0:17:21Jan had told me about an ex-user with a criminal past whom the Fire
0:17:21 > 0:17:25Department had had to Narcan back to life many times, Mickey Watson.
0:17:27 > 0:17:30He was helping a new arrival find a spot
0:17:30 > 0:17:32in an encampment by the Ohio River.
0:17:32 > 0:17:34How old are you, Edwin?
0:17:34 > 0:17:37- I'm 42.- 42.- I have a degree and everything.
0:17:37 > 0:17:39I mean, I owned a business up until...
0:17:40 > 0:17:43- ..six months ago. - What sort of business?
0:17:43 > 0:17:45A computer business - I was doing...
0:17:45 > 0:17:47network auditing and penetration testing.
0:17:47 > 0:17:50- That's a good living. - It's a great living. I made a lot of money at it.
0:17:50 > 0:17:52Did you, how much?
0:17:52 > 0:17:54At one point I was making over...
0:17:54 > 0:17:56at least over 200,000 a year.
0:17:56 > 0:17:57- Are you serious?- Yeah.
0:17:57 > 0:17:59Did you hear that, Mickey?
0:17:59 > 0:18:01Edwin's a computer boffin.
0:18:01 > 0:18:05Yeah. Hell, it kills movie stars, man. It doesn't discriminate on who you are.
0:18:05 > 0:18:09- Getting off of it, it's always waiting round the corner for you to stumble.- Absolutely, it is.
0:18:09 > 0:18:12And there's no chemical solution for a God-sized problem, man.
0:18:12 > 0:18:13There is not.
0:18:13 > 0:18:17You will not fill this hole inside you with anything other than God.
0:18:17 > 0:18:20That hole, man, that hole is there.
0:18:20 > 0:18:23There is a big hole. I see it right now, I'm in withdrawal,
0:18:23 > 0:18:25I feel that big hole in my chest.
0:18:27 > 0:18:30I ain't going to stand here and boast to you.
0:18:30 > 0:18:32If it wasn't for God, I wouldn't be here right now.
0:18:33 > 0:18:36God knows who I am and understands what I am.
0:18:37 > 0:18:39God didn't plan for me to live down here.
0:18:39 > 0:18:41He don't have that plan for him, either.
0:18:41 > 0:18:45Right now, what he's got planned for him is this is a stepping stone to getting where he wants him.
0:18:47 > 0:18:49- Shall we do it?- Yeah, let's go.
0:18:50 > 0:18:52What were your convictions, Mickey?
0:18:52 > 0:18:55I've only been convicted of second-degree robbery.
0:18:56 > 0:18:59Dude had something of some value and, uh...
0:18:59 > 0:19:00I ran up and snatched it from him.
0:19:00 > 0:19:04- What was it?- He had a nice-looking laptop in his hands.
0:19:04 > 0:19:09- You just snatched it?- I just snatched it and ran and they caught me.- And why had you done that?
0:19:09 > 0:19:13I was high and I wanted some more body, so I could keep getting high.
0:19:13 > 0:19:17I'm a completely different person when I'm high.
0:19:17 > 0:19:19My wife tells me it's the very devil himself
0:19:19 > 0:19:20that crawls out of my skin.
0:19:22 > 0:19:25I'm very violent, I don't care who I hurt.
0:19:28 > 0:19:30Or what I take, or who I take it from.
0:19:32 > 0:19:34I've stolen from my own kids to get high.
0:19:35 > 0:19:37I've let guys suck my dick to get high.
0:19:38 > 0:19:41I mean, you'll do whatever it takes.
0:19:41 > 0:19:43- Have you ever sucked a dick to get high?- I have never sucked a dick,
0:19:43 > 0:19:46but I've let a guy suck my dick to get high.
0:19:48 > 0:19:51So you do have SOME boundaries?
0:19:51 > 0:19:53Yeah, I have some boundaries, you know.
0:20:12 > 0:20:15There's the heart beating away. We'll measure it.
0:20:16 > 0:20:18The heart rate is 151.
0:20:18 > 0:20:19That's good.
0:20:20 > 0:20:23At Cabell Huntington Hospital,
0:20:23 > 0:20:26Alicia Phillips and Ronnie Rowe were having a baby scan.
0:20:28 > 0:20:30He has some hair.
0:20:30 > 0:20:33- Oh!- All that fuzzy stuff you see there on top.
0:20:33 > 0:20:35A recovering heroin user,
0:20:35 > 0:20:39Alicia had weaned herself onto a synthetic opiate called Subutex,
0:20:39 > 0:20:41that is thought to be less harmful to babies.
0:20:43 > 0:20:46It was part of a programme run by Doctor David Chaffin.
0:20:46 > 0:20:49Well, all together, we're at the 26 percentile.
0:20:49 > 0:20:51So baby's growth is good.
0:20:51 > 0:20:53- Fluid's good.- OK.
0:20:53 > 0:20:54How much does he weigh?
0:20:54 > 0:20:57Well, now, realise this is a guesstimate, OK?
0:20:57 > 0:20:59- OK.- But...
0:21:00 > 0:21:01..4lb 12oz.
0:21:02 > 0:21:04- So... Good size.- Yeah.
0:21:05 > 0:21:07Doctor Chaffin?
0:21:07 > 0:21:10You know, in the scenario in which Alicia was still using,
0:21:10 > 0:21:14or abusing either heroin or prescription opiates,
0:21:14 > 0:21:16what does that look like for the baby?
0:21:18 > 0:21:20In that case, have several concerns.
0:21:20 > 0:21:23Number one, there is an increased risk of growth restriction.
0:21:23 > 0:21:27Babies just don't grow when they're being exposed to those opiates.
0:21:27 > 0:21:31So what's really scary in the case of heroin is
0:21:31 > 0:21:35the withdrawal can come on very quickly, if you miss a dose,
0:21:35 > 0:21:37and acute sudden withdrawal
0:21:37 > 0:21:40is dangerous for the foetus in utero and so sometimes,
0:21:40 > 0:21:42those babies don't survive that withdrawal.
0:21:44 > 0:21:46Any questions about what you just heard?
0:21:46 > 0:21:49- No. I've heard lots about it. - OK.
0:21:50 > 0:21:51Last year in Huntington,
0:21:51 > 0:21:55one out of ten babies was born dependent on opiates.
0:21:56 > 0:22:01It's hideous, the idea of a baby being born addicted to an opiate,
0:22:01 > 0:22:03isn't it, whether it's Subutex or heroin?
0:22:03 > 0:22:05Let's not use the word addicted.
0:22:05 > 0:22:07They're going through withdrawal,
0:22:07 > 0:22:09because they're physically dependent.
0:22:09 > 0:22:12Everything that is warm and tingly
0:22:12 > 0:22:14and brings a smile to your face when
0:22:14 > 0:22:17you think of snuggling up with a baby, all right, a newborn,
0:22:17 > 0:22:19is absent in these babies.
0:22:19 > 0:22:22And yes, it is difficult to deal with these babies.
0:22:22 > 0:22:23But they are feeling...
0:22:23 > 0:22:26- They are...- Irritable, they don't want to be touched.
0:22:26 > 0:22:27- Correct.- They are crying.
0:22:27 > 0:22:30Correct. The good news is, there is an end.
0:22:30 > 0:22:34OK? We are weaning them off of this medication
0:22:34 > 0:22:36and there will be an end to this.
0:22:43 > 0:22:46In her 16-year dalliance with opiates,
0:22:46 > 0:22:48Alicia had been in and out of rehab
0:22:48 > 0:22:50and had picked up multiple drugs charges
0:22:50 > 0:22:52and a conviction for forgery.
0:22:55 > 0:22:59She'd met Ronnie ten months earlier, when they were still using.
0:22:59 > 0:23:02Now both in recovery, they were renting space in a friend's house.
0:23:02 > 0:23:07Our programme is about misuse of opiates and heroin,
0:23:07 > 0:23:09which has ravaged this area.
0:23:09 > 0:23:12Can you tell me how it's affected your lives?
0:23:13 > 0:23:14It ruined my life.
0:23:14 > 0:23:16- Yeah.- It RUINED my life.
0:23:16 > 0:23:17How? How do you mean?
0:23:17 > 0:23:19I dropped out of college
0:23:19 > 0:23:22and then I started getting arrested and going to jail
0:23:22 > 0:23:24and not being able to keep a job and...
0:23:24 > 0:23:26You dropped out of college, Alicia?
0:23:26 > 0:23:29- What were you studying? - Library science.
0:23:29 > 0:23:31- Library science?- Yeah.
0:23:31 > 0:23:33So how did you get involved in opiates?
0:23:33 > 0:23:36My stepdad was a welder, a boilermaker.
0:23:36 > 0:23:39And he had had a lot of surgeries on his back
0:23:39 > 0:23:41and he was receiving OxyContin.
0:23:41 > 0:23:45He didn't take his prescription that often, really,
0:23:45 > 0:23:49so he had a stockpile of pills and I would,
0:23:49 > 0:23:51you know, take them.
0:23:51 > 0:23:52You would dip into it?
0:23:52 > 0:23:54- Yeah.- Without him knowing?
0:23:54 > 0:23:56It took him about two years to realise.
0:23:56 > 0:23:59See I really was addicted by the time I was 16.
0:23:59 > 0:24:02Yeah. I didn't understand.
0:24:02 > 0:24:06Like I had seen, you know, movies about heroin,
0:24:06 > 0:24:08you know, like people getting sick.
0:24:09 > 0:24:13And I didn't understand that it was the same thing.
0:24:13 > 0:24:16You thought because it's a pill from a doctor, it can't be that bad?
0:24:16 > 0:24:21Safe. And you know how all the commercials on television for all
0:24:21 > 0:24:24the big pharmaceutical companies, antidepressants and pills for this,
0:24:24 > 0:24:25pills for that, you know?
0:24:25 > 0:24:27How did it progress from there?
0:24:27 > 0:24:29I started experimenting with heroin, too,
0:24:29 > 0:24:32because at that time, they were starting to close the doctors down.
0:24:32 > 0:24:35Started to drive drug dealers around.
0:24:35 > 0:24:37Trafficking drugs back and forth
0:24:37 > 0:24:40to...stay high.
0:24:40 > 0:24:43I would get paid in crack and heroin to drive.
0:24:43 > 0:24:47And I could have ended up doing ten years in prison.
0:24:47 > 0:24:50So when did you sort of stop abusing drugs?
0:24:50 > 0:24:52When me and her got serious.
0:24:53 > 0:24:56And when she found out she was pregnant.
0:24:56 > 0:24:59That's been a motivator for you to sort yourself out?
0:24:59 > 0:25:01It's been a life changer.
0:25:01 > 0:25:04So where do you keep your Subutex?
0:25:04 > 0:25:08Just in the bathroom, but, if I have certain people coming over,
0:25:08 > 0:25:11I hide them. There are people who will steal them from me.
0:25:11 > 0:25:13- For real?- Yeah.
0:25:13 > 0:25:16- Why?- Because they're addicted to them, too.
0:25:16 > 0:25:18You take one of those in the morning?
0:25:18 > 0:25:20- One in the morning. - And one in the...?
0:25:20 > 0:25:22- And one in the evening. - And really, at this stage,
0:25:22 > 0:25:24that's all your addiction...
0:25:26 > 0:25:27- ..is?- Yes.
0:25:27 > 0:25:31And would the aim be to taper off that at some point?
0:25:31 > 0:25:32Yes. Yeah.
0:25:47 > 0:25:48Hello.
0:25:48 > 0:25:49I was back with Curtilia.
0:25:50 > 0:25:52She'd suggested we visit the house
0:25:52 > 0:25:55she grew up in and the great uncle who raised her.
0:25:56 > 0:25:58I'd been thinking about her
0:25:58 > 0:26:01and the strangeness of her relationship with Alvin.
0:26:01 > 0:26:04I was hoping the trip might be a chance to talk.
0:26:04 > 0:26:06I'm actually really excited.
0:26:06 > 0:26:09- About?- This is the first time that I've been able to be home
0:26:09 > 0:26:11- since I've with Al.- Are you serious?
0:26:11 > 0:26:12Yes.
0:26:13 > 0:26:16The impression I had the other day was it was almost like he'd...
0:26:18 > 0:26:22Almost holding you hostage, using the drugs.
0:26:22 > 0:26:24Actually, I used to be scared.
0:26:24 > 0:26:25I used to be scared of him.
0:26:25 > 0:26:27But...
0:26:27 > 0:26:28Aren't you scared now?
0:26:29 > 0:26:32I'm scared... I'm not scared of HIM
0:26:32 > 0:26:37as much as I'm scared of what he's capable of doing.
0:26:37 > 0:26:41Whenever he gets angry, or gets in one of those bad moods.
0:26:42 > 0:26:44Yeah, this is the house.
0:26:45 > 0:26:50Curtilia's great-uncle lives an hour outside Huntington in Wayne County,
0:26:50 > 0:26:51West Virginia.
0:26:51 > 0:26:54It's kind of idyllic, isn't it?
0:26:54 > 0:26:57He's the retired owner of an oil-well drilling company.
0:26:57 > 0:26:58- Louis.- Louis?
0:26:58 > 0:27:01- Yes.- Mike.- Mike, nice to meet you.
0:27:01 > 0:27:03- Mike Davis.- Can we come in?
0:27:03 > 0:27:05- Mm-hm. Yeah.- Thanks for having us.
0:27:05 > 0:27:08You are actually Curtilia's great uncle by blood.
0:27:08 > 0:27:09That's right, isn't it?
0:27:09 > 0:27:11- But she calls you Dad.- Mm-hm.
0:27:12 > 0:27:14- And you raised her.- Right.
0:27:14 > 0:27:19We raised her from the time that she was 15 months old.
0:27:19 > 0:27:21What was Curtilia like growing up?
0:27:21 > 0:27:24Well, she was a happy child.
0:27:24 > 0:27:27We went on trips, we went camping.
0:27:27 > 0:27:30She used to be handy around the place and liked helping out?
0:27:30 > 0:27:31Oh, yeah. Yeah.
0:27:31 > 0:27:35I let her drive bulldozers and things like that.
0:27:35 > 0:27:39Curtilia seems to me to have lots of potential.
0:27:39 > 0:27:41- She has.- And that she would be someone who,
0:27:41 > 0:27:43if she put her mind to it...
0:27:44 > 0:27:47- ..could, you know... - She's very intelligent.
0:27:47 > 0:27:48- Do what she wanted.- Yeah.
0:27:48 > 0:27:50So why did she get caught up?
0:27:50 > 0:27:53Well, she got caught up because of, er...
0:27:53 > 0:27:55basically, back...
0:27:56 > 0:28:00..when we was, when my wife got sick,
0:28:00 > 0:28:02and I was spending so much time
0:28:02 > 0:28:05in the hospitals with her,
0:28:05 > 0:28:06with my wife,
0:28:06 > 0:28:11and Curtilia basically had too much freedom to do as she pleased.
0:28:12 > 0:28:14Maybe I've been an enabler.
0:28:16 > 0:28:19In a lot of ways, I blame myself for that.
0:28:19 > 0:28:21I've been an enabler.
0:28:21 > 0:28:22And right now...
0:28:24 > 0:28:28..she's at a point that she depends on...
0:28:28 > 0:28:30Curtilia, if I'm telling this wrong, you can...
0:28:30 > 0:28:33- It's OK.- I'm not... Am I making you feel bad?
0:28:33 > 0:28:36- No, you're OK, Dad. - I'm just telling you what I think.
0:28:36 > 0:28:39- Well, you tell your...- I just don't want you to blame yourself
0:28:39 > 0:28:41or feel like you had any part in any reason...
0:28:41 > 0:28:44- Well, no...- ..of me picking up...
0:28:45 > 0:28:47..a needle.
0:28:47 > 0:28:49I see that as...
0:28:50 > 0:28:53You would love me to death.
0:28:53 > 0:28:54I'd rather say it like that.
0:28:54 > 0:28:56And I wouldn't say enabling.
0:29:03 > 0:29:06You said that you thought you might have enabled.
0:29:06 > 0:29:08I had enabled her,
0:29:08 > 0:29:11after she got already on drugs.
0:29:11 > 0:29:13She came to me and said,
0:29:13 > 0:29:17"Dad, can I have 50 bucks?"
0:29:17 > 0:29:20and she'd say, "I want to go down and buy me some shoes."
0:29:21 > 0:29:23Instead of buying shoes, she'd buy drugs.
0:29:23 > 0:29:27The whole situation must have caused you a lot of stress.
0:29:27 > 0:29:29- It did.- Anxiety.
0:29:29 > 0:29:31All the time, I'd go to bed and I'd think, "Well,
0:29:31 > 0:29:34"am I going to get a phone call that she's dead?"
0:29:35 > 0:29:38But you gradually learn to live with that,
0:29:38 > 0:29:40you know?
0:29:47 > 0:29:50Do you have rules for her when she's here?
0:29:50 > 0:29:52Oh, yeah. Mm-hm.
0:29:54 > 0:29:56But, hey...
0:29:56 > 0:29:59Rules don't count if you break the rules, or if you sneak.
0:30:01 > 0:30:04Does he not realise when you're doing heroin, would he be upset?
0:30:04 > 0:30:06He... Yeah, yeah.
0:30:07 > 0:30:12Actually, one of the rules is to keep any drugs or paraphernalia
0:30:12 > 0:30:14out of the house.
0:30:14 > 0:30:16But you can sort of run rings around him.
0:30:18 > 0:30:19Yeah.
0:30:19 > 0:30:21He's going to give me money today
0:30:21 > 0:30:25- to get a vehicle, or money to put on a vehicle.- He is?
0:30:25 > 0:30:28- Mm-hm.- Today?- Mm-hm.- How much?
0:30:28 > 0:30:32Well, it's 800 to go towards a used vehicle.
0:30:33 > 0:30:36You'll just spend it on dope, though, won't you?
0:30:36 > 0:30:39I mean, I'm kind of looking at it as I'm wanting to...
0:30:39 > 0:30:40I really want to get a vehicle,
0:30:40 > 0:30:43but I really do want to buy drugs with it.
0:30:43 > 0:30:44I do.
0:30:47 > 0:30:50But I could have so much more with a vehicle.
0:30:52 > 0:30:55If I don't spend it, don't waste it,
0:30:55 > 0:30:57but God help you if you do.
0:31:00 > 0:31:02I told him to not worry,
0:31:02 > 0:31:06that I really didn't have to spend money like that any more.
0:31:06 > 0:31:09Things were a little bit easier on that aspect and...
0:31:10 > 0:31:11..I should get a vehicle.
0:31:12 > 0:31:15I made him a promise and I hate to break promises.
0:31:17 > 0:31:20All right, so I'll say bye-bye.
0:31:20 > 0:31:21Everybody take care.
0:31:21 > 0:31:23God bless you all.
0:31:23 > 0:31:24- You OK?- Yeah.
0:31:38 > 0:31:41- What's the matter?- Huh? - What's the matter?
0:31:41 > 0:31:44It just...hurts to leave him...
0:31:45 > 0:31:46..and...
0:31:48 > 0:31:50..go back into town to...
0:31:52 > 0:31:57..to a place that I'm not as happy as I am here.
0:32:01 > 0:32:05I just can't break the chain long enough to stay here and...
0:32:07 > 0:32:10I don't know, I can't talk right now. Forget it. Thanks.
0:32:14 > 0:32:17Leaving Mike's farm, I began to suspect that for Curtilia,
0:32:17 > 0:32:21the main point of our visit had been to get money from her great uncle.
0:32:23 > 0:32:27I felt torn, seeing her evident love for him, but also the way her
0:32:27 > 0:32:30dependency was causing her to deceive him.
0:32:39 > 0:32:41I just want to be OK, right now.
0:32:41 > 0:32:45So I just go around this little circle, round and round.
0:32:45 > 0:32:49I'm trying to get HERE, but I'm constantly going back THERE.
0:32:49 > 0:32:52Heroin addiction is notoriously tenacious,
0:32:52 > 0:32:54and treatment very difficult.
0:32:56 > 0:32:57In the wake of the epidemic,
0:32:57 > 0:32:59the city has opened rehab centres,
0:32:59 > 0:33:02but there are long waiting lists for beds.
0:33:03 > 0:33:07One of the biggest facilities is Recovery Point.
0:33:07 > 0:33:09It offers 11 months of residential treatment,
0:33:09 > 0:33:12structured with military discipline.
0:33:12 > 0:33:17God, grant us the serenity to accept
0:33:17 > 0:33:19the things we cannot change,
0:33:19 > 0:33:22the courage to change the things we can
0:33:22 > 0:33:24and the wisdom to know the difference.
0:33:25 > 0:33:29Less than 10% of its intake make it to the end of the programme.
0:33:30 > 0:33:35Among its small cohort of successful graduates is Mickey.
0:33:37 > 0:33:39How long have you been clean?
0:33:39 > 0:33:41November of last year I picked up my one-year coin.
0:33:41 > 0:33:43One year of sobriety?
0:33:43 > 0:33:44One year of sobriety.
0:33:46 > 0:33:48How did that feel?
0:33:48 > 0:33:50Like, I never thought in a million years I could do that.
0:33:51 > 0:33:54Where were you? What was the little sequence of events?
0:33:54 > 0:33:57I was in my apartment on the west end, down there in Miami.
0:33:57 > 0:33:59I overdosed again and...
0:33:59 > 0:34:01How many times have you overdosed?
0:34:01 > 0:34:03I don't know. Somewhere upwards towards 100.
0:34:03 > 0:34:06- Come on!- I'm not kidding, dude.
0:34:06 > 0:34:07You were hospitalised?
0:34:07 > 0:34:09Like, ten times over it, yeah.
0:34:09 > 0:34:11I have woke up with hoses down my throat,
0:34:11 > 0:34:13I had my stomach pumped.
0:34:13 > 0:34:15And then on the last time, what was different?
0:34:17 > 0:34:19It got to the point that any more than a couple of hours,
0:34:19 > 0:34:22I was already starting to shake. I couldn't even pass out,
0:34:22 > 0:34:24because my body wouldn't allow me to sleep
0:34:24 > 0:34:26without craving alcohol and drugs.
0:34:28 > 0:34:30And I just had enough, man.
0:34:30 > 0:34:32Called and got help and...
0:34:32 > 0:34:35..I told my wife "Bye," I said, "I hope to see you again.
0:34:35 > 0:34:37"If I see you again, we'll get married.
0:34:37 > 0:34:40"If it's meant for us to be together, then we'll be together.
0:34:40 > 0:34:44"If it ain't, than I love you, and thanks for everything.
0:34:44 > 0:34:46"And I've got to save my life," so I had to leave.
0:34:46 > 0:34:48Was she using at the time?
0:34:48 > 0:34:51Yeah, she was using right along with me.
0:34:51 > 0:34:52And she said the same thing to me.
0:34:55 > 0:35:00We are talking mainly to people who are active in their addiction, OK?
0:35:00 > 0:35:02Right.
0:35:02 > 0:35:03Who are in many ways similar,
0:35:03 > 0:35:07very similar to the person you're describing, that YOU were.
0:35:07 > 0:35:08Yeah.
0:35:09 > 0:35:12But recovery seems so out of reach for them.
0:35:13 > 0:35:15So what I'm wondering is...
0:35:16 > 0:35:19..whether there's anything you can...
0:35:19 > 0:35:24say that...would explain how someone makes that leap.
0:35:25 > 0:35:27It's kind of when the pain of change
0:35:27 > 0:35:31becomes less than the pain of staying the same.
0:35:31 > 0:35:33Then you'll change.
0:35:33 > 0:35:36But they're locked into a physical state in which,
0:35:36 > 0:35:38you know, it's like telling them
0:35:38 > 0:35:42they have to crawl across broken glass to get to what they need.
0:35:42 > 0:35:45Darn right I crawled across that broken glass. I wouldn't hesitate.
0:35:48 > 0:35:50I feel like life's going the way it's supposed to, man.
0:35:50 > 0:35:52I've got a full-time job.
0:35:52 > 0:35:54I pay my bills.
0:35:54 > 0:35:55And I got my kids back in my life.
0:35:55 > 0:35:57I've got...
0:35:57 > 0:35:59I got family that cares now.
0:35:59 > 0:36:00It's amazing, man.
0:36:11 > 0:36:13- May I come in?- For sure, man.
0:36:13 > 0:36:15- Should I take my shoes off? - No, no, no.
0:36:15 > 0:36:17You're more than welcome, man.
0:36:17 > 0:36:20I was with a friend of Mickey's, called Nate Walsh.
0:36:21 > 0:36:23You've got quite a bit of space in here.
0:36:23 > 0:36:25- Quite a bit of space, here.- Yeah.
0:36:25 > 0:36:28And you've got your glass coffee table.
0:36:28 > 0:36:29Yeah, you like that?
0:36:29 > 0:36:32A three-year veteran of the river bank,
0:36:32 > 0:36:36he was also a dealer and something of a connoisseur of heroin.
0:36:36 > 0:36:38I've definitely got some dope.
0:36:38 > 0:36:40I've got the best dope in the city. The best dope in the Tri-State.
0:36:40 > 0:36:44That right there...is that fire,
0:36:44 > 0:36:45you know what I'm saying?
0:36:45 > 0:36:47- Wow!- See, that's kind of pink.
0:36:47 > 0:36:50- Like it's pinkish looking. - Yeah, a tiny bit. Tiny pinky-grey.
0:36:50 > 0:36:54Cos that's not straight heroin, it's Fentanyl.
0:36:54 > 0:36:56Cos I've heard you can OD on that.
0:36:56 > 0:36:58Oh, yeah. Fuck, yeah.
0:36:58 > 0:37:01If I did that right there by myself, dude, I would drop dead.
0:37:01 > 0:37:02You know what I mean? And I do...
0:37:02 > 0:37:05I have a tolerance higher than most people in the town.
0:37:05 > 0:37:08Did you... You know, a lot of people
0:37:08 > 0:37:10migrate from dabbling with pain pills, right?
0:37:10 > 0:37:13That's what happened to me. I mean, it happens to everybody, you know.
0:37:13 > 0:37:16- That's what happens...- Go on, how did it work in your case?
0:37:16 > 0:37:20I got hit by a car and that almost killed me.
0:37:20 > 0:37:25- How old were you?- It happened September 26, 2010.
0:37:25 > 0:37:26So this is seven years ago.
0:37:26 > 0:37:29You were about 26?
0:37:29 > 0:37:33Yeah, exactly. The first time that I took them tabs, I mean, fuck,
0:37:33 > 0:37:34I ate like ten of them.
0:37:34 > 0:37:37You know what I mean? And it rocked my world.
0:37:37 > 0:37:39I don't know, I mean...
0:37:39 > 0:37:41I wouldn't, like, go back in the day, and like, you know,
0:37:41 > 0:37:46become a heroin junkie, you know, as soon as possible, but I mean...
0:37:46 > 0:37:51It's not as bad as I made it out to be and how I felt about it back then, you know what I'm saying?
0:37:51 > 0:37:54You almost... That's kind of interesting and paradoxical.
0:37:54 > 0:37:57A lot of people on heroin say they want to get off it and they loathe the addiction...
0:37:57 > 0:38:00- I had a wrong opinion about it. - But I feel like you seem to be...
0:38:00 > 0:38:05You seem to have made your peace with having a dependency on heroin.
0:38:05 > 0:38:09Yeah. Because I'm different from your average junkie in the street.
0:38:09 > 0:38:12You know what I'm saying? I don't spend most of my time...
0:38:13 > 0:38:16..dope sick and broke and robbing motherfuckers
0:38:16 > 0:38:18and struggling to get my fix on,
0:38:18 > 0:38:23you know what I mean? I spend more of my time just fucking high and making money
0:38:23 > 0:38:26and just comfortable and fine with it, you know what I mean?
0:38:28 > 0:38:30Than I don't, you know what I'm saying?
0:38:30 > 0:38:32Have you ever done rehab?
0:38:32 > 0:38:34No, I haven't,
0:38:34 > 0:38:35cos, er...
0:38:35 > 0:38:37why would I?
0:38:37 > 0:38:41You've got the air of someone who had opportunities growing up...
0:38:42 > 0:38:47But yet, it's kind of like how it all fell into place, though,
0:38:47 > 0:38:49is cos I had gotten...
0:38:49 > 0:38:51I had a baby with this girl
0:38:51 > 0:38:55over in Ohio and she ended up snatching my kid up
0:38:55 > 0:38:58and you know, taking off and leaving with him and disappearing.
0:38:58 > 0:39:01At the time, I had a nice job welding.
0:39:01 > 0:39:02How many children have you got?
0:39:02 > 0:39:06- I've got the one, just got one. - How old? It's a boy, did you say?
0:39:06 > 0:39:08- A little boy, yeah. - How old is he now?
0:39:08 > 0:39:11He will be 12 on 4th July, yeah.
0:39:11 > 0:39:14And do you see much of him?
0:39:15 > 0:39:19Not really, but I do see him every now and then.
0:39:19 > 0:39:21I don't want to be judgmental, but what's stopping you
0:39:21 > 0:39:23from being more involved, would you say?
0:39:25 > 0:39:29That's definitely the heroin and the dope and all that shit I get.
0:39:29 > 0:39:33I've missed so much of my son's life,
0:39:33 > 0:39:36when he was really young, cos I definitely wanted to be there.
0:39:36 > 0:39:38I mean, I loved my son, I mean,
0:39:38 > 0:39:41fuck, I enjoyed having my kid, you know,
0:39:41 > 0:39:44and when she took off like the way she did,
0:39:44 > 0:39:47it fucked me up, man, like,
0:39:47 > 0:39:48I was tore up about that.
0:39:48 > 0:39:51I've got to do this dope, Bro - I mean, you're killing me, Bro.
0:39:51 > 0:39:53Oh, yeah, yeah. Go ahead. I'm sorry.
0:39:54 > 0:39:55I mean...
0:39:55 > 0:39:57Why are you putting it in that scab?
0:39:58 > 0:39:59That's where I shoot.
0:39:59 > 0:40:04- You've got, like...- It looks like that because that's the only spot I've been using for a long time.
0:40:07 > 0:40:09But, yeah, that's that.
0:40:10 > 0:40:12- Anyways...- How do you feel now?
0:40:13 > 0:40:14I feel exactly the same, Bro.
0:40:14 > 0:40:17It hasn't even pumped through my veins yet.
0:40:17 > 0:40:20I mean, it takes a second to get there, you know what I mean?
0:40:22 > 0:40:24I can start to feel it now a little, tiny bit.
0:40:24 > 0:40:28I know it's coming. I got that feeling of anticipation,
0:40:28 > 0:40:30cos I know it's coming.
0:40:30 > 0:40:33I love it. I mean, it's hard to explain.
0:40:33 > 0:40:36- I mean...- What could you compare it to?
0:40:37 > 0:40:40I don't know. I'm starting to feel it now. Ha!
0:40:40 > 0:40:42But, um...
0:40:42 > 0:40:43it's kind of like a, er...
0:40:45 > 0:40:48Like a stick of dynamite that's just
0:40:48 > 0:40:50going to do absolutely nothing in the world
0:40:50 > 0:40:54except make you feel as good as you can possibly feel and...
0:40:55 > 0:40:59..you light that fuse, and you see the fuse burning
0:40:59 > 0:41:00and you know any second,
0:41:00 > 0:41:04it's going to fucking blow your mind, you know what I mean?
0:41:04 > 0:41:06It's a good thing, man. It's not bad.
0:41:06 > 0:41:09You know what I mean, like? That's what I say, I mean,
0:41:09 > 0:41:13why would I want to go to rehab and why would I want to get straight?
0:41:13 > 0:41:18Clean my life up, and shit, cos I enjoy it too much, man, like,
0:41:18 > 0:41:20who wouldn't, you know?
0:41:34 > 0:41:36Police. Search warrant!
0:41:36 > 0:41:39POLICE OFFICER SHOUTS
0:41:40 > 0:41:43How much would you say is the street value of that heroin?
0:41:43 > 0:41:46About 3,000, possibly in heroin, maybe more.
0:41:46 > 0:41:49But you can see how much money's there.
0:41:49 > 0:41:53We're seeing so much dope that to us, that's not that big a deal.
0:41:53 > 0:41:54I mean, that's how bad our problem is.
0:41:54 > 0:41:56SIREN WAILS
0:41:56 > 0:41:58That's another overdose.
0:41:58 > 0:42:02By now, I was several weeks into my stay, and throughout the city,
0:42:02 > 0:42:06the ravages of heroin were apparent on a daily basis.
0:42:09 > 0:42:10I'm OK.
0:42:10 > 0:42:12Looks all perky now.
0:42:12 > 0:42:13Yeah, that's Narcan.
0:42:15 > 0:42:18Riding on the back of the over-prescription of painkillers,
0:42:18 > 0:42:21heroin has ripped the heart out of Huntington,
0:42:21 > 0:42:23destroying lives indiscriminately...
0:42:24 > 0:42:28..while the overstretched city workers do their best to turn the tide.
0:42:30 > 0:42:33Those people in that car, you see how they were looking at us?
0:42:33 > 0:42:35Step out.
0:42:37 > 0:42:40Do you have a problem with opiates or heroin?
0:42:40 > 0:42:41Yeah, I've struggled with it.
0:42:41 > 0:42:43Yeah.
0:42:43 > 0:42:47Like a contagion, it has left almost no-one's life untouched.
0:43:07 > 0:43:08- Hello.- Hi!- Can I come in?
0:43:08 > 0:43:10Yeah, sure. Come in.
0:43:10 > 0:43:12I was with Alicia Phillips.
0:43:13 > 0:43:15She'd had her baby,
0:43:15 > 0:43:17but Ronnie, her other half,
0:43:17 > 0:43:19was back in prison on an old warrant
0:43:19 > 0:43:22and she'd had to move in with her father, Pete.
0:43:22 > 0:43:25How was the birth?
0:43:25 > 0:43:26I had a C-section.
0:43:26 > 0:43:28I mean, it wasn't bad.
0:43:28 > 0:43:30They had me kind of restrained a little bit.
0:43:30 > 0:43:32He's called Archer.
0:43:32 > 0:43:35Archer David Ivan Rowe.
0:43:35 > 0:43:37But he's not home yet.
0:43:37 > 0:43:39- No.- And he's ten days old, so what's going on?
0:43:39 > 0:43:45So...they watch them for a minimum seven days, anyway.
0:43:45 > 0:43:47He's on methadone.
0:43:47 > 0:43:50So at the moment, he's going through a tricky phase
0:43:50 > 0:43:51of basically kind of...
0:43:53 > 0:43:55..weaning himself off the methadone.
0:43:55 > 0:43:57Yeah. He's getting diarrhoea,
0:43:57 > 0:43:59mottling - it's like red skin.
0:44:01 > 0:44:02Excessive sucking.
0:44:02 > 0:44:04- Sneezing.- You've met Archer, have you, Pete?
0:44:04 > 0:44:07- Oh, yeah.- He got to hold Archer before I did.
0:44:07 > 0:44:10Yeah. Like, handed him right to me when he came out.
0:44:10 > 0:44:12I was the one that went in with her.
0:44:12 > 0:44:14- Yeah.- Because Ronnie couldn't be there?- Right.
0:44:17 > 0:44:19When did you first become aware there was a problem?
0:44:19 > 0:44:24You know, I didn't know exactly what she was doing, but I did know that
0:44:24 > 0:44:27things were disappearing from the house and getting hawked.
0:44:27 > 0:44:29What was going missing?
0:44:29 > 0:44:31Guns, anything that she could hawk.
0:44:32 > 0:44:34So your attitude was...?
0:44:36 > 0:44:37Hit the door.
0:44:38 > 0:44:42Because... I mean, you could see she was in trouble.
0:44:42 > 0:44:46You didn't want... What was your thinking, I mean - it's a big decision.
0:44:46 > 0:44:50There's nothing that you can do to help them more than...
0:44:51 > 0:44:53..stop... What's the word?
0:44:53 > 0:44:56- Tough love.- Tough love, yeah.
0:44:56 > 0:44:59One of the last things we had to do was
0:44:59 > 0:45:02go through an intervention - had to write her a letter.
0:45:02 > 0:45:05- That was awful. - Yeah. That was AWFUL.
0:45:06 > 0:45:07Saying what?
0:45:15 > 0:45:17HE SOBS
0:45:20 > 0:45:22It was...a bad day.
0:45:22 > 0:45:24Just saying, like, um...
0:45:25 > 0:45:29..how, you know, how bad I had hurt him over the years and stuff.
0:45:36 > 0:45:39It hurts you thinking about the stress
0:45:39 > 0:45:42- and all the anxiety and anguish you went through?- Oh, yeah.
0:45:42 > 0:45:43And her.
0:45:43 > 0:45:45Yeah.
0:45:45 > 0:45:46Couldn't do anything with her.
0:45:47 > 0:45:53Do you have a sense of what it was that made her vulnerable to this?
0:45:55 > 0:45:57Not really.
0:46:01 > 0:46:05The frightening truth at the heart of Huntington's epidemic may be that
0:46:05 > 0:46:07ANYONE can get caught up.
0:46:09 > 0:46:12One bad choice can wreck a life.
0:46:14 > 0:46:15Hey, Alvin.
0:46:16 > 0:46:20With Curtilia, her early promise had been overtaken
0:46:20 > 0:46:22by a litany of crimes
0:46:22 > 0:46:26and a glaring gulf between what she might have achieved
0:46:26 > 0:46:28and the harsh reality.
0:46:28 > 0:46:31We finally, we finally got us some good stuff.
0:46:32 > 0:46:33Yes.
0:46:33 > 0:46:37And today some fresh needles and good dope.
0:46:37 > 0:46:38We're doing good!
0:46:38 > 0:46:41Oh! Well, hi, guys!
0:46:41 > 0:46:42How are you doing?
0:46:42 > 0:46:44Good, how are you?
0:46:44 > 0:46:47We were on an outing to Huntington's needle exchange.
0:46:48 > 0:46:50I couldn't help noticing that
0:46:50 > 0:46:52despite the cash gift from Curtilia's great uncle,
0:46:52 > 0:46:55there was no sign of a new vehicle.
0:46:55 > 0:46:58And Petty Betty's car had gone AWOL.
0:46:58 > 0:46:59- This time,- I- was driving.
0:47:01 > 0:47:05In messages, Curtilia had continued to allege that Alvin was abusing her
0:47:05 > 0:47:08physically and that she only stayed with him because of her addiction.
0:47:10 > 0:47:13She'd given me permission to raise the issue with them both.
0:47:13 > 0:47:15You were a couple, right?
0:47:15 > 0:47:18- Yes, sir.- And would you say, like...
0:47:18 > 0:47:20you're in a good spot as a couple?
0:47:23 > 0:47:24You have your ways,
0:47:24 > 0:47:27but for the most part, pretty much, yeah.
0:47:27 > 0:47:29Life happens. Ain't nobody perfect.
0:47:30 > 0:47:33Did you break Curtilia's nose?
0:47:33 > 0:47:35- No!- She said you did.
0:47:35 > 0:47:37I didn't break your nose!
0:47:37 > 0:47:39Your nose ain't broke...
0:47:40 > 0:47:43Your nose been broken? Has it been broken?
0:47:44 > 0:47:46- Yes, it has.- It hasn't.
0:47:46 > 0:47:48Now, put that on camera.
0:47:48 > 0:47:50Look at that. Now, put that one on camera.
0:47:50 > 0:47:53- Alvin...- Stop lying.- I was talking about the fight at Diaz.
0:47:53 > 0:47:56You weren't talking about a fight. You're lying. Stop lying.
0:47:56 > 0:47:58Your nose didn't get broke by me.
0:48:07 > 0:48:08From my perspective,
0:48:08 > 0:48:11there's never a good reason to be physical, to hit...
0:48:11 > 0:48:15- ..or be abusive.- No - there's not a good reason.- Physically abusive.
0:48:15 > 0:48:17You don't just wake up in the morning and say...
0:48:17 > 0:48:21"I'm a haul off and hit someone." Nobody does that. You can't do that. Ain't no way of thinking at all.
0:48:21 > 0:48:26- You can't do that.- So you're talking about last night.- I ain't talking about nothing. Camera on you or me?
0:48:26 > 0:48:28OK? Yeah.
0:48:29 > 0:48:32You went to hospital while we were away.
0:48:32 > 0:48:33- Yes, I did.- Why?
0:48:34 > 0:48:36Well, yeah... There was another...
0:48:36 > 0:48:40Me and Al got in another argument
0:48:40 > 0:48:42and...I was wanting to leave.
0:48:42 > 0:48:47I had my bags packed and he said some really mean things.
0:48:47 > 0:48:50But I pushed his grill over, his barbecue grill.
0:48:50 > 0:48:52It's something, though, to him that means a lot.
0:48:52 > 0:48:54He likes to grill and cook.
0:48:55 > 0:48:58And after he seen that I've done that,
0:48:58 > 0:49:02he pushed me and kind of slammed me down.
0:49:02 > 0:49:06He didn't intend for my back to break...
0:49:07 > 0:49:09..but it did, and they said
0:49:09 > 0:49:15- the impact, you know, was as much as being in a car accident.- Mm.
0:49:15 > 0:49:17Are you aiming to leave the relationship?
0:49:17 > 0:49:20I don't see myself...
0:49:20 > 0:49:21It really is not healthy...
0:49:22 > 0:49:26..but of course, now I have to say I'm happy and things are OK for me
0:49:26 > 0:49:30to continue to get my dope, cos if I don't, then I'll be back on the street...
0:49:31 > 0:49:35..doing things that I probably, this time, wouldn't make it alive.
0:49:37 > 0:49:39What's stopping you from getting clean?
0:49:39 > 0:49:40I'm complacent right now.
0:49:40 > 0:49:44I'm comfortable with being able to...
0:49:44 > 0:49:47not have to rob or steal or trick or do anything
0:49:47 > 0:49:50for drugs and it's just right there.
0:49:50 > 0:49:52So, 158.
0:49:52 > 0:49:55- How are you?- I'm good. - I'm going to borrow your paper.
0:49:55 > 0:49:57- So you got any needles for me? - Oh, yeah. Definitely, definitely.
0:49:57 > 0:49:59All right.
0:49:59 > 0:50:01So I'm going to get you some spoons,
0:50:01 > 0:50:04and you're not sharing anything with anybody, right?
0:50:04 > 0:50:05I hope to see you again.
0:50:05 > 0:50:08It wasn't easy to see a way out for Curtilia.
0:50:09 > 0:50:1315 years of using had left its mark on her body,
0:50:13 > 0:50:17but perhaps more indelibly on her sense of who she was
0:50:17 > 0:50:19and what she deserved.
0:50:24 > 0:50:27SIREN WAILS
0:50:32 > 0:50:35I was with Jan on another call -
0:50:35 > 0:50:38a former nurse had overdosed in a known drug house.
0:50:38 > 0:50:41- Hey, Mallory. What did you take, honey?- Nothing.
0:50:41 > 0:50:43No, that doesn't work.
0:50:43 > 0:50:46We gave you some medicine that only works if you took something.
0:50:46 > 0:50:49So did you do heroin?
0:50:49 > 0:50:50Guess so, yeah.
0:50:50 > 0:50:52Did you snort it?
0:50:52 > 0:50:54- Mm-mm.- No, did you shoot it?- Mm-hm.
0:51:01 > 0:51:03It's been busy, hasn't it?
0:51:03 > 0:51:09Yes. We are on pace to be 1,000 runs higher
0:51:09 > 0:51:12in 2017 than we were in 2016
0:51:12 > 0:51:16and the majority of it is overdose calls.
0:51:16 > 0:51:20- You know, addiction exists everywhere. People are addicted to all kinds of things.- Absolutely.
0:51:20 > 0:51:22Do you think if it weren't...
0:51:22 > 0:51:25heroin and opiates, it would be something else?
0:51:25 > 0:51:28Maybe, but this is an unprecedented area.
0:51:28 > 0:51:34The majority of the addiction that we're dealing with now came about in a legal manner. You know,
0:51:34 > 0:51:39I think the intent of developing synthetic opiates was good,
0:51:39 > 0:51:43but it quickly turned...um, bad.
0:51:43 > 0:51:49What do you think the pharmaceutical companies can do at this point?
0:51:49 > 0:51:51Do you think they're doing enough?
0:51:51 > 0:51:52I don't think they're doing enough.
0:51:52 > 0:51:55I don't think they're doing hardly anything.
0:51:55 > 0:51:57They certainly don't seem to be
0:51:57 > 0:52:00willing to stretch out a hand and help us
0:52:00 > 0:52:03in our plight and that's very sad.
0:52:04 > 0:52:08Cos they've made billions of dollars on this addiction.
0:52:17 > 0:52:21Even for those who are sober, in Huntington, life isn't always easy.
0:52:24 > 0:52:27For Mickey, less than 12 months out of rehab,
0:52:27 > 0:52:30his new routine revolves around work.
0:52:30 > 0:52:31Here.
0:52:31 > 0:52:33- Thank you.- You're welcome.
0:52:33 > 0:52:36His charitable trips to the river bank
0:52:36 > 0:52:38are like a little taste of his old life.
0:52:38 > 0:52:40Hello!
0:52:40 > 0:52:42Hello. Anybody home?
0:52:42 > 0:52:46We've got some snacks and some goodies for you all.
0:52:46 > 0:52:48- Want some ravioli?- Yeah.
0:52:48 > 0:52:50I figured you would, man.
0:52:50 > 0:52:54There's times in my life, to this day, I still miss living down here.
0:52:54 > 0:52:56If you'd had unlimited money for...
0:52:57 > 0:52:59..for substances, would you have
0:52:59 > 0:53:01quite liked to have stayed down here?
0:53:01 > 0:53:04No. Now, I'm a part of something that's unimaginable,
0:53:04 > 0:53:07that I wished every individual down here could get.
0:53:07 > 0:53:09- Which is what?- Peace of mind.
0:53:10 > 0:53:12You OK in there, Nate?
0:53:17 > 0:53:18- How you doing?- Huh?
0:53:18 > 0:53:20- How are you doing?- I'm all right.
0:53:20 > 0:53:23- Give me just a second.- Shall we wait?- Just for a minute.- OK, cool.
0:53:23 > 0:53:24Thank you.
0:53:26 > 0:53:27How you doing, Nate?
0:53:27 > 0:53:31- I'm good, man. How're YOU doing? - Good.- Really good right now.
0:53:31 > 0:53:33- Yeah, hell, yeah.- Are you high?
0:53:33 > 0:53:36- I'm high as fuck, man. - Are you?- Oh...!
0:53:37 > 0:53:39Have you got a friend in there?
0:53:39 > 0:53:41Yeah, man. Ooh!
0:53:42 > 0:53:46- She's not your girlfriend? - No, she's not my girlfriend, you know what I'm saying?
0:53:46 > 0:53:48- You don't have one.- I don't have no girlfriend, like.
0:53:48 > 0:53:51You going to leave me, baby girl? Don't leave me. You all go ahead.
0:53:51 > 0:53:54- I'm going to speak to her for just one second. - I've been doing it for two years.
0:53:54 > 0:53:58- I can't... I don't like... - I did it for 25.- I like keeping myself up, you know what I mean?
0:53:58 > 0:54:00Like, I still eat, make sure I keep myself healthy, like...
0:54:00 > 0:54:02- How old are you?- 20.- God.
0:54:02 > 0:54:05You've been using for about two years?
0:54:05 > 0:54:08Yes. I'm sorry, I've got to go.
0:54:08 > 0:54:09- I'm in a hurry.- I'll be right back.
0:54:09 > 0:54:11Two seconds.
0:54:12 > 0:54:15That's not the person I was expecting to come out of there.
0:54:15 > 0:54:18Me, neither. That is not what I was expecting to come out of the tent.
0:54:18 > 0:54:20She won't be looking like it very long.
0:54:24 > 0:54:26- It's going to be bad. - It's kind of sad.
0:54:26 > 0:54:28It's real sad. I see these girls all the time.
0:54:28 > 0:54:31They'll start on the street. You can see 'em, they're real pretty.
0:54:31 > 0:54:33They got all their teeth. Three months later, six months later,
0:54:33 > 0:54:36they're covered in bruises and fucking teeth are missing.
0:54:36 > 0:54:38Damn, she's good-looking!
0:54:38 > 0:54:41Shit, I tried to tell her, she ain't going to be very good-looking very long.
0:54:41 > 0:54:44I was going to say, it was kind of sad to see her in this situation,
0:54:44 > 0:54:46- in a way.- How so?
0:54:46 > 0:54:49I think it's just absolutely amazing to see her
0:54:49 > 0:54:51any time, in any situation.
0:54:51 > 0:54:53God!
0:54:53 > 0:54:56Because I'm assuming she's in a high-risk lifestyle from her being
0:54:56 > 0:54:58- down here.- That's why she...
0:55:00 > 0:55:03..trusts me, that I'm not going to ever, you know,
0:55:03 > 0:55:04try to hurt her in any way.
0:55:04 > 0:55:07You know what I mean, and she puts her life in my hands.
0:55:07 > 0:55:09- A lot of people do.- You like each other, don't you?
0:55:09 > 0:55:12Absolutely. We've been good friends, good friends for a long time.
0:55:12 > 0:55:14- You're quite fond of Nate. - Absolutely, yes.
0:55:14 > 0:55:17And we were sort of talking about it and you were saying, well,
0:55:17 > 0:55:19Nate's actually quite a happy dude.
0:55:19 > 0:55:21- He's happy...- And maybe Nate doesn't really...
0:55:21 > 0:55:24- Doesn't really, maybe... - Not even know he's miserable?
0:55:24 > 0:55:28- That's what I was telling you... - You think he doesn't know he's miserable? Is he miserable?
0:55:28 > 0:55:30In a certain way, yes.
0:55:30 > 0:55:32- In what way?- In the way that he's delusional.
0:55:32 > 0:55:36He doesn't know right now the state of misery he's really in,
0:55:36 > 0:55:38because he's delusional under the influence.
0:55:38 > 0:55:41I mean, he is correct about that, because I mean, like...
0:55:41 > 0:55:44- This is not a home, Bro. You know that.- Exactly, you know what I'm saying?
0:55:44 > 0:55:46Like, I've had, I've had nice stuff.
0:55:46 > 0:55:49I've had a crib, I've had, you know...
0:55:49 > 0:55:51- Everything.- I've had it all, you know what I'm saying?
0:55:51 > 0:55:55And I gave it all up and I don't really care about anything,
0:55:55 > 0:55:58you know what I'm saying? Like, I don't even give a shit about MYSELF
0:55:58 > 0:55:59no more, you know what I mean?
0:55:59 > 0:56:02- Because getting high's important to me.- And your son?
0:56:02 > 0:56:04Exactly, like, my own child and everything,
0:56:04 > 0:56:08you know what I'm saying? I've put everything on the back burner,
0:56:08 > 0:56:10because, I mean, none of that should even matter,
0:56:10 > 0:56:13once you start getting high and letting it control your life.
0:56:13 > 0:56:17What do you think you'd be doing if you hadn't got onto those pills and
0:56:17 > 0:56:19- then onto heroin?- I don't know.
0:56:19 > 0:56:21It's hard to say, Bro.
0:56:22 > 0:56:24I bet my life would be a lot better, though.
0:56:24 > 0:56:26You know. I wouldn't have fucked up.
0:56:28 > 0:56:30I mean, shit...
0:56:30 > 0:56:31Do you think you did fuck up?
0:56:35 > 0:56:36Yeah.
0:56:37 > 0:56:43Yeah, but not really, cos I mean, I never really had no control over it.
0:56:43 > 0:56:46The fact that a drunk driver swerves off the road and, like,
0:56:46 > 0:56:49hit my ass and knocked me in the street and all that shit.
0:56:51 > 0:56:52That was completely out of my hands.
0:56:54 > 0:56:57I had to do something, because I was hurting and I still hurt.
0:56:57 > 0:57:00I hurt every day. If I ain't got none, I hurt.
0:57:00 > 0:57:02It hurts bad. I mean...
0:57:03 > 0:57:05..you ain't never seen me hurt, Bro.
0:57:05 > 0:57:07Every time you see me, I feel good.
0:57:07 > 0:57:11Cos I try to stay feeling good, you know what I mean?
0:57:11 > 0:57:13- Yeah.- Just remember, man, if you ever...
0:57:13 > 0:57:16- Say the word, Bro.- Oh, I already know, I mean,
0:57:16 > 0:57:17I can get help any time I need it,
0:57:17 > 0:57:21but I'd have to welcome all that pain back into my life.
0:57:22 > 0:57:23I mean, shit...
0:57:25 > 0:57:30And just knowing that if I can do this, Bro, you can, too.
0:57:30 > 0:57:31God bless you, Bro. I love you.
0:57:41 > 0:57:47Huntington is just one out of a growing number of places across America gripped by heroin.
0:57:48 > 0:57:51The city is attempting to sue the distributors of the most abused
0:57:51 > 0:57:54prescription opiates for tens of millions of dollars.
0:57:55 > 0:57:59In the meantime, with overdoses continuing to rise,
0:57:59 > 0:58:02each small victory is held dear
0:58:02 > 0:58:05as an uncertain omen of hope and rebirth.
0:58:06 > 0:58:09He looks like a healthy little chap, doesn't he?
0:58:09 > 0:58:11- Yes, he is.- Pretty happy baby.
0:58:15 > 0:58:17Careful, very precious.
0:58:17 > 0:58:18Hello, mister.
0:58:22 > 0:58:23I'm getting good vibes.
0:58:24 > 0:58:27You know what time it is... Oh! Open your eyes.
0:58:27 > 0:58:28Come on.
0:58:29 > 0:58:32Take that from me. Come on.